The conservative party of Canada has its new leader and it's thankfully not the Shark Tank guy. Kevin O'Leary seemed like a great choice, he's a rich guy who is famous for being an asshole on television but he actually had no chance.

For starters, he can't speak french. I don't think you can actually hold office here in Canada without being bilingual--at least you can't get most civil servant jobs anyway, I'm not sure about elected officials--but also, it hurts your chances a lot in Quebec, who matter in elections more than any other province other than Ontario. Then, he refused to show up to multiple debates for the party leadership and stayed in Boston for most of the leadership race. Why does he love Boston so much? His Canadian restaurant chain is called Boston Pizza even, you know, named after the famous Boston style of pizza(?) that no one has ever heard of before.

But anyway, the guy who won was a snake in the grass insider guy, less like Trump and more like Steven Harper. I don't know much about him, but everything I hear is groan worthy. For instance, he's real vocal about wanting to pass legislature to protect free speech on college campuses...

loud long sigh

You know, that big problem. Gotta take it to them snowflakes am i rite?

Many in town rely on the service for everything from deodorant to hardware supplies to non-perishable food.

Alookie Itorcheak said she's been using Amazon for four years, to make being a mom more affordable.

A box of 180 Pampers costs about $70 off the shelf in Iqaluit; on Amazon, similar size boxes are around $35.

Diapers are not covered by Nutrition North, the federal program that gives subsidies to northern retailers. It was one of many items dropped from the eligibility list when the government replaced the former Food Mail program with Nutrition North in 2011.

*The capital, and only, city in Nunavut, Canada's northernmost province.

Also, that sucks, but I do agree with the fellow who says this is about profits and sooner or later Amazon is going to cut them off. Depending on the charity and goodwill of a multinational corporation is pretty scary and not something you should do if you can avoid it.

Of course they can't avoid it - the story's more about how inferior the comparable government program is.

Yeah, I've got mixed feelings about Amazon's low prices. On the one hand, low prices aren't free, we've heard about Amazon's ruthlessness and cost-cutting everywhere from the warehouse to the boardroom, and, as you say, prices tend to go up once they've eliminated their competition.

On the other...well, if you've got a fixed income and you need to buy diapers, you don't always have the luxury of thinking about the corporate structure you're feeding.

My feelings on Wal-Mart are pretty well-known (and made one guy very very angry once), but when I was unemployed I bought my prescriptions there, because beggars can't be choosers. (And as low as my opinion of Wal-Mart is, my opinion of pharmaceutical pricing is lower.)

Yeah I am politically against walmart but practically I can't drive 90 miles round trip to the nearest city with choices everytime I need groceries or toilet paper and they're the only store in my town.

Joxam wrote:Yeah I am politically against walmart but practically I can't drive 90 miles round trip to the nearest city with choices everytime I need groceries or toilet paper and they're the only store in my town.

However, in positive news for those who "enjoy" "living" like automatons, the ban is not due to toxicity or anything, merely that it doesn't meet Canadian nutritional guidelines for a meal replacement product.